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Bombay 12. From Film Nagari to ‘DAWAT O TABLIGH & ISLAH.’
Nostalgia Bandra Bandstand By ZGM Someone to my delight sent an anonymous poem ‘Bandra Meri Jann’ to me on WhatsApp. The amateurish poem took me on a trek to the Carter Road, the Linking Road, the Pali Hill and Bandstand of the city of dreams. It made me relish the soothing breeze blowing along the Carter Road, relive the experiences of the pageant of buzzing street Bazars, high profile designer boutiques, gaudy and stylish shoes and trendy fashion of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Memeiors
Respond To Clarion Call Retreat Pellet Guns
PUNCHLINE Haunting ‘Dead Eyes’ By Z.G. Muhammad On 15 March 1929, Sir Albino Banerjee, a Bengali Christen, who for two years had been Foreign and Political Minister of Maharaja Hari Singh had observed that the rulers had been treating “Mohammadan population” worst than “cattle.” Ninety years later, when the idea of governance in the world has undergone a sea change, and colonialism has crashed the mindset of those in the corridors of “hegemonic authority” in the state has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Kashmir-Talk
Bombay Days 11 : Morarji Desai Taught Kashmir’s Top Man Punctuality
Nostalgia Morarji Desai and My HMT Watch ZGM Someone has said it, and said it beautifully ‘everybody owns a piece of Marine Drive’; it greets everyone with a smile, asks none; if he is a puritan or sinner, a maharaja or mendicant. Like millions of others, whose stories are preserved in its depth, I too have my share of stories about this great seashore, once known Kennedy sea face. In my childhood, much before having visited … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Kashmir’s- Kowtowing “Accession-Politicians”
PUNCHLINE It Takes Courage: Standing for truth is all that matters By Z. G. Muhammad Sometimes, some news stories published on the inner pages because of their imminent political fallout are more significant than those that for their immediate news value make the lead stories. On Saturday, a four column news story published on page seven of the newspaper caught my attention more than the two BJP ministers resigning at the insistence of the party high command. It was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Bombay 10: And Haji’s Put their Own Bazar
Nostalgia Haji’s Bazar By ZGM It was no ordinary day for them; it was a dream come true. On leaving the customs clearance hall, walking on the dockyard, looking at the vastness of the sea they saw their lifelong supplications granted. Unmindful of the frenetic activity on the dockyard, with eyes fixed on the ornately festooned ship Akbari, even those in very ripe age, walked very fast. Hardly, any one of the pilgrims had an experience of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Kashmir: Narratives, Not Military Power Triumphs
Punchline Misplaced Optimism By Z.G. Muhammad The past Monday, when my column, ‘Geelani Release- A Way Forward,’ appeared in this newspaper, I felt remorseful of having written something outlandish- far fetched from the ground reality. It was flagrantly in contradiction with the black bordered banner lead stories, ‘Bloody Sunday: 20 Killed’ in all the newspapers. The blood curdling details of blood bath enacted in wee morning hours of Sunday in a couple of villages in Shopian district of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Autobiographical notes, Bombay 8, Haj Pilgrims and Wonderland
Nostalgia Sea Haj Pilgrims in Bombay By ZGM It was like Alice, that little girl in Carol Lewis’ novel falling down a rabbit hole to discover a wonderland and seeing an attractive garden. That is how the Haj pilgrims felt on their arrival at the Bombay Central Railway Station. Sitting, atop their tin trunks and luggage in the old terrain military trucks perhaps of second world war times, on their way to Saboo Siddique Musafirkhana at the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take